Portable knockdown floor construction



April 5, 1949. R. M. RICHARDSON PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN FLOOR CONSTRUCTIONFiled Dec. 18, 1945 W lll lllll Inventor a jakardsan Rag ' I I, torneysPatented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED :iS RA- l'iE'N l rem-Ant naemewweo'onCONSTRUCTION -3 Claims.

1 This invention relates to portable *fio'or cen- "struction of aknoc-ledown type and has refe'rence in" particular to an especiallyrnadeup assemblage which is especially, but' not necessarily, adaptedt'o "fun'ctionasa 'dancefloor, or, preferably, as a iloor for -askatingrink. I

As above "setforth, and although-the former the invention adopted is"susceptible-in serving in many *capacities, "the "structuralairrangement heri'n shown and described-isexpressly intended toxs'er'veas a skating rink in that-itcan be-set"-up, *taken' down, or rep'airedand 'mad'e' practicable for use in varioustype's oflouil'dirigs'and'inclosures, "as" well as utilized out-of-do'o'rswherever-necessa'r'y or desired.

"In" carrying; out the principles of the preferred embodiment ofthe*inven'tion, the floor pro'p'eris characterized by hardwood tongue"and groove "stock, "the individual sections being relatively "short"pieces and theseof standardized 'and pre- "deteririine'd'dimensionssoastdfitand' nestprop- "'erly together and "so "as "to "ihake "forrea-dy and satisfactory "repairs whenever ene "or more seetior'is'become damaged or require replacement.

Anotherobject and feature of the invention has to do with the adoption"and use or longitu- "iiinal edging members for the "opposite longitu-"structure, these being in the form "of "angle irons said irons serving"not 'om'y'as 're-inforci'iig cornice pieces but as eeeemmeasudn meansirer 'assenibling rods ems 'for rails or 'fnces used as running guardson either one or fboth sides of the coinple'ted's'tructure. Armenia incarrying "out another phase ofjthe invention, I provide a sectionalknockdown floor in which the tongue andgroove sections or-piecesare notonly standardized in dimensions f or "interchangeability and quickrepairs but are provided -Wi-th transverse bores, --these "being:parallel to each other and located at specific points so that the boresof the respective sections aiidf'ajltof said sections can be lined up toaccommodate the transverse assembling and retaining rods or bolts.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description of the accompanying illustrativedrawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are cdrdarice with theprinciplesiof the presentin- 2 ventiony-on'e -of the sections beingremo'ved to r'riak'e' 1 my for arep'air. c Figure -2 is"'an p'erspectiveview o'f {one of tiie standardized tongue -and groove sections.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail seet'i'on #t'a'ken -011 theapproximate plane of 'the'line 33 3 of Figure 1, and

:Figure 1 *is a "fr'a'gfnentary el'evatiorfal showing tlie manner -inwhich' the' knock I fence is setup for use on the flooras"a niargina1guid'e.

:As hefor'e stated :the entire as'sembly is Zo'f e portable knockdowntype, the-floor properb'eii fg 'denoted by the .-numera1 "Ei and bemeersectional -construction and-in fact made: up of the tong-tie and *groove'sectionsorpie'cs shown, "one being I "illustrated" in*Figure 2 -anddenoted by the mer'al "1. In other words, the entire =floor' G- is madeup of standardize'd' tongue and groove'sto'ck -i,:-the tongue beingindicated at 8 'andthe groove -at9. The aforementioned bores are denotedli'y the numerals ID.

In "connection with the foregoing it understo'od that ertainpiec'es onthe ends, that-is, the opposite ends of the "completed floor =may bemade "sh'orter or longer than the regular or 'boil iy pieeestl, such asfor exam le the pieces lla't the'left in Figure 1. This isnecessary-mower te permit the overall structure to fit in certainf-liinited or-fixed areas, but in the main e11 of the pieces"wil1 be ofthe-size and proportiton 'asshooin inFigure 2. The obvious purpose ofthis isthat zit proposes expeditious manufacturing anaes- "seinbling anddisassembling. Also, if one of "the pieces in ithe middle of the floor,for example,

'ibe'comes damaged so that it interferes with-"a. v

smooth surface, I the repla'cement of this can irea'dily accomplished.This'isattainalbl e ih't all; Ft-he Various pi'e'ces 'l'are assembledand-seen 3. together by longr o'cl s or so-called bolts HZ. Th sfe--a-re identical and arranged at "equally spaced points throughout the"longitudinal dimension bf evident in "nuts J4, the latter 'seryiri'g tohear 'aj'ga st ftrudeithrough and loeyondthe lbngitaainai eases 3 of themade up floor and carry springs and the springs serve as compensatingelements for expansion and contraction and general cushioning purposes.

As before indicated I provide corner shields and re-inforcing membersfor the longitudinal edges of the completed floor structure. Theseshields are in the form of angle irons and are denoted by the numeralsH. The angle iron is the same on each side of the floor structure asseen in Figure 1. The vertical flanges l8 are apertured to permit I Thehorizontal flanges l9 rest on the top of the endmost floor sections 7.On one side I desire to use a knockdown fence or guard 20 as shown inFigure 4. This is made up of vertical posts 2| and horizontal rails 22properly connected together by suitable unions or couplings. The lowerends of the posts are threaded and are fitted into sockets 23, thesockets being fastened to the top flange I9 on the underlying angle iron11. Thus the flange 19 on one side serves as a mount for the socket 23which in turn serves to support the hand rail.

By removing one of the sections 1 as shown at point 24 of Figure 1another section, of a corresponding side can be readily inserted. Thispro vides for the aforementioned quick repair result.

,, What I claim is:

1. A knockdown type portable floor expressly adapted and suitable foruse in a skating rink comprising a sectional floor embodying a pluralityof duplicate tongue-and-groove boards arranged in end-to-end abuttingrelationship and side-byside interfitting relationship, said boardsbeing relatively short in relation to the overall length of the finishedfloor and the boards of one row being in break-joint relation to theboards of the next adjacent row, each board having a pair oftransversely located bolt-accommodating holes situated inwardly of theopposite end portions of said board, all of said bolt holes beinggrouped and lined up in relative order and relationship and thusproviding passages extending transversely across the entire floor, and aplurality of bolts fitting in the respective passages and serving toclamp the floor boards together in abutting relationship, the oppositeends of the respective bolts being screw-threaded, assembling andclamping nuts on the respective screw-threaded ends, a pair oflengthwise extending floor-reinforcing and protecting angle irons, saidangle irons being disposed along the opposite outer longitudinal edgeportions of the complete floor, having their horizontal flanges restingupon the top surfaces of the boards of the outermost rows, having theirvertical flanges resting in contact with the outer marginal edgeportions of said outermost boards, the threaded ends of said boltsyextending through and beyond bolt holes pro- -vided therefor in thecoacting vertical flanges.

2. A knockdown type portable floor adapted for use in a skating rinkcomprising a sectional floor embodying a plurality of duplicate tongue--and-groove boards arranged in abutting end-to- =end relationship andside-by-side interfltting relationship, said boards being relativelyshort in relation to the overall length of the finished -fioor and theboards of one row being in breakholes being lined up'in relativerelationship and thus providing a plurality of parallel passages ex- 1upon the top surfaces of the boards of the two outermost rows, havingtheir vertical flanges resting in contact with the outer marginal edgeportions of the boards of said outermost rows, the threaded ends of saidbolts extending through and beyond bolt holes provided in the coactingvertical flanges, and a vertical fence of a length commensurate with thelength of the floor and situated along one longitudinal edge portion ofthe floor, said fence embodying vertical posts connected together byhorizontal hand rails, the lower ends of said posts being anchored onthe horizontal flange of the coacting angle iron.

3. A portable and knockdown floor comprising a floor constructed fromtongue-and-groove boards, substantially all of said boards beingrelatively short in their relation to the total length of the completefloor and all of said boards being of the same dimensions so that theyare interchangeable and so that they may be removed and replaced forready repair purposes, all of said boards being arranged in end-to-endrow relationship, the boards of the respective and adjacent rows beingstaggered in relation to each other to provide break-joint relationshipof the boards of adjacent rows, each floor board having transverse boltholes, coacting bolt holes of associated floor boards being lined up toprovide bolt passages extending transversely across the entire floor, apair of angle irons situated along opposite longitudinal edge portionsof the floor, the horizontal flanges of the respective angle ironsresting atop the surfaces of the floor boards in the outermost rows ofthe finished floor, the vertical flanges resting in contact with thevertical marginal edges of said outermost boards, and a REFERENCES CITEDThe following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date f 339,368 Black et al. Apr. 6,1886 432,000 Shimer July 8, 1890 761,147 Casler May 31, 1904 1,045,219Tramill Nov. 26, 1912 1,407,679 Ruthrauif Feb. 21, 1922 1,501,573 TaylorJuly 15, 1924 1,854,673 Rust Apr. 19, 1932 2,102,086 Mueller Dec. 14,1937

